Contents

Development and design

Lauren Faust was inspired to create Twilight Sparkle by her childhood toy G1 pony Twilight.[7] Faust's early design of Twilight shared a similar color scheme and cutie mark with the G1 Twilight, who appears in the pilot episode "Rescue at Midnight Castle". Twilight Sparkle's color scheme was later changed to that of the G3 Earth pony Twilight Twinkle, with a slightly different mane and tail, but Lauren Faust said that Twilight originally had dark blue hair with a light blue stripe;[8] Twilight Sparkle was called "Twilight Twinkle" in early scripts for the show.[9] G1 Twilight teleports by wishing, and Twilight Twinkle likes to watch fireflies; Twilight Sparkle shares aspects from both of these ponies, with her ability to teleport and her occasional stargazing. Though she is much more studious and possesses more powerful magical abilities, she also shares a number of personality traits with the G1 PegasusWind Whistler, such as her tendency to rely on logic rather than instincts and her habit of using more advanced and technical terms. She additionally shares some personality traits with the G1 pony named Bright Eyes.

As an Alicorn, Princess Twilight Sparkle is a little taller,[11] her neck is more curved, and her horn is a bit longer than as a unicorn. Her title and name together are similar to those of G1 unicorn mare Princess Sparkle.

Depiction in the series

History

Twilight Sparkle lives in Canterlot until Princess Celestia sends her to Ponyville. Accompanied by Spike, Twilight checks the town's preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration and befriends the rest of the main characters. The celebration is interrupted when Nightmare Moon, Celestia's nemesis, returns to power and threatens to bring eternal night to Equestria. Twilight and her friends discover the Elements of Harmony and use them to defeat Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia gives Twilight permission to remain in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship.

In Magical Mystery Cure, Twilight completes an ancient unfinished magic spell with her deep understanding of friendship. Princess Celestia tells Twilight that she is ready for the next stage of her life, and Twilight is transformed into an Alicorn and crowned a princess.

Princess Twilight Sparkle becomes the ruler of the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom in[2][3][4] the season four[1] episode Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2; Mike Vogel, Hasbro Studios' vice president of development, stated that "a whole episode in Season 5" is "devote[d]" to answering the question of whether she is "still going to use/live in her library."[12]

Rationality

Twilight attempts to observe and measure Pinkie Sense omens.

Twilight tries to be rational in unfamiliar situations. During the investigation in MMMystery on the Friendship Express, Twilight tells Pinkie Pie to stop making wild accusations, and they work together to find clues and solve the mystery.

However, Twilight can lose her cool under stress. In Swarm of the Century, she hysterically suggests building a replica of Ponyville in less than a minute before Princess Celestia can see the damage done by the parasprite infestation.

Knack for organization

Twilight Sparkle, the All-Team Organizer.

Twilight shows her knack for organization in Winter Wrap Up. When the Winter Wrap Up becomes inefficient and uncoordinated, she organizes the teams and ensures that winter is wrapped up on time. Mayor Mare gives Twilight the official title of "All-Team Organizer." Twilight also uses her organization skills in the episodes Lesson Zero and It's About Time.

Teaching

Twilight teaching the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

In the episode Twilight Time, Twilight takes time each week to teach the Cutie Mark Crusaders various skills. She attempts to teach Sweetie Belle to use the telekinetic component of her magic, Apple Bloom how to make botanic growth potions, and Scootaloo how to strip and reassemble various types of scooter and cycle. Twilight is overjoyed when she thinks the other classmates also want to learn new things, but she is disappointed when she finds out that they merely want to spend time with a local celebrity.

Twilight's ability as a teacher is proven in that she succeeds in teaching all three Crusaders the skills she intended to teach them. They all demonstrate a high degree of aptitude at the end of their lessons.

In Sonic Rainboom, she casts a spell that allows non-Pegasus ponies to walk on clouds, an ability that only Pegasus ponies naturally possess. She also casts a spell that gives Rarity butterfly-like wings made of “gossamer and morning dew."

In Lesson Zero, she uses a "Want it, need it" spell to make a raggedy old doll desired by anyone who lays eyes on it.

In Too Many Pinkie Pies, she accidentally turns a bird and a frog into half-animal, half-orange hybrids while attempting to turn an apple into an orange. In the same episode, she uses her magic to return Pinkie Pie's duplicates to the mirror pool.

Twilight first teleports herself in Friendship is Magic, part 2. In Secret of My Excess, Twilight teleports Spike several times while trying to clean a lipstick mark off his cheek, and accidentally teleports Pinkie Pie from an unknown location to Golden Oak Library while teleporting Spike. In Dragon Quest, Twilight teleports herself and three other characters a considerable distance with great effort.

In Castle Mane-ia, Twilight uses a spell to freeze the movement of her four terrified friends running around in a large throne room, without stopping their eyes or mouths from moving. The spell also keeps them aloft in their location, be it in mid-air or in the middle of a movement, effectively preventing their fall.

In the episode Magic Duel, she has difficulty performing an age spell, which she says is only for "the highest level unicorns."

Twilight's horn glowing deep pink.

In the first season, Twilight's horn usually glows white or the same hue as her coat, and the objects she is manipulating glow white, lavender, or pink. When she manipulates multiple objects at once, several other colors are used as well, for example in the gem-finding scene in A Dog and Pony Show. Starting with the second season's third episode, Twilight's magic is uniformly depicted using a pink glow.

Twilight reveals that she has an older brother, Shining Armor, in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1. She sings B.B.B.F.F. (Big Brother Best Friend Forever), a song about their close bond and how much she misses him after she moves to Ponyville. Shining Armor, though extremely busy with his duties around the Crystal Empire, still has time for his little sister, whom he calls "Twily".

Twilight reveals that Princess Cadance was her foal-sitter when she was a filly. At the end of A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, Twilight becomes Cadance's sister-in-law when the latter marries Shining Armor. Twilight enjoys spending time with Cadance as seen in Three's A Crowd when Cadance comes to visit her.

Crowns

For the first three seasons of the show, Twilight possesses a crown containing the element of magic. She receives it in Friendship is Magic, part 2 when she defeats Nightmare Moon. The crown is studded with sapphires and a magenta star-shaped gem shaped like like Twilight's cutie mark.

After Twilight becomes a princess in Magical Mystery Cure, she wears a different crown with the element of magic embedded in it. It is a lighter shade of gold, no longer has sapphires, and rests horizontally, not vertically, on Twilight's head.

Depiction in films

In My Little Pony Equestria Girls, Twilight and Spike teleport to a human world to retrieve the stolen element of magic from Sunset Shimmer. Twilight and Spike enter Canterlot High and meet the human counterparts of their Ponyville friends. When Twilight discovers that Principal Celestia will award the crown to the Princess of the Fall Formal dance, she decides to run for Princess. She wins, despite a smear campaign orchestrated by Sunset Shimmer, and receives the crown at the dance.

However, Sunset Shimmer takes the crown by force and transforms into a rage-filled demonic creature. She hypnotizes the students, whom she plans to use as an army to invade Equestria. When she attacks Twilight, Twilight's friends shield her and inadvertently activate the magic of friendship. They defeat Sunset Shimmer, who is remorseful for her actions.

After the dance, Twilight and Spike return to Equestria. Twilight feels more confident about being a princess than before. She bumps into Flash Sentry, who she encountered several times in the human world, and blushes. Twilight's friends tease her for having a crush, but she denies it.

In the film, the reformed Sunset Shimmer uses a magical book to write a note to Princess Celestia that magically appears in a book in Celestia's library. When Twilight sees this book, she senses that her CHS friends need her help, so she and Spike go through a modified version of the Crystal Mirror to return to the human world.

Once there, Twilight is told of the situation at CHS while also revealing her new status back home in Equestria as the Princess of Friendship. Twilight learns that her human friends are still able to assume half-pony forms after she returned home with the Element of Magic. She attempts to take out the Dazzlings at the pre-Battle of the Bands party immediately, only to find the magic of friendship not working. Believing that they need a counter-spell song to counteract the Dazzlings' song, Twilight struggles to come up with one as the Rainbooms battle their way to the finals to buy Twilight more time.

When they are dropped into the basement of the amphitheater stage by Trixie and theIllusions, under encouragement from the Dazzlings, Twilight gives up hope, only to discover that the reason the magic of friendship never worked was because the Rainbooms had allowed a few minor suggestions that they could not agree upon to drive a rift into their friendships. That caused it to become warped into something the Dazzlings could feed upon to regain their powers, and render it powerless.

Twilight Sparkle leading the Rainbooms in Rainbow Rocks.

Once the Rainbooms realize their error and make amends, together with DJ Pon-3, who was immune to the Dazzlings' spell thanks to her headphones, and Sunset lending her strength to them, Twilight and the band are able to overpower and destroy the Dazzlings' power sources, stripping them of their dark powers permanently, and leaving them to be forced off the stage in disgrace by the angry students and faculty.

Afterward, Twilight returns home to Equestria, but thanks to how she was able to re-energize the portal, she can come back to visit anytime she wants. Sunset also takes it upon herself to write her friendship reports into her old journal for Twilight to read back in Equestria.

After the credits roll, the human world's Twilight is seen piecing together some strange events that occurred at Canterlot High School. She talks to her non-sentient dog Spike. This version of Twilight looks extremely different as she has her hair in a bun and wears thick black glasses, similar to how pony Twilight is dressed when she plays a therapist to Rainbow Dash in Lesson Zero.

Twilight first appears in Shake Your Tail, where she helps her friends come up with a theme for the Spring Fling party at Canterlot High. She comes up with a classroom theme, but that idea does not sit well with the others.

Twilight reappears in Perfect Day for Fun, where she spends some time with Fluttershy at the Canterlot High springtime carnival. At one point, she gives Fluttershy a Discord plushie, but Fluttershy smacks it with a Whack-a-Mole hammer. She and Fluttershy spend most of the short trying to find the others. They finally reunite at the photo booth. The friends all take some photos, but then Twilight tells them it is almost showtime and they take off to perform on the stage. In one photo montage, Twilight and Applejack drag a crying Fluttershy into a haunted house. However, Applejack and Twilight end up getting scared themselves while Fluttershy shows indifference towards it. The final scene shows Twilight and her friends looking through the photos on top of a ferris wheel.

In the novelization, Twilight is actually still in Equestria and, in the end, imagines that she is performing with her Canterlot High friends.

By virtue of her brother's marriage to Princess Cadance, Twilight was listed as royalty in trading cards of Cadance and Shining Armor before the finale of season three.[24]

Hasbro.com description

Dutiful and intelligent, Twilight Sparkle is obsessed with one thing: studying magic! She once studied so much, she made no time for anypony else. That is until her mentor, Princess Celestia charged her with the study of a special kind of magic--- friendship! Newly converted to the joys of having friends, she uses her knowledge and unusually powerful gift for magical spells to help her companions in Ponyville. Though sometimes she gets on her "high horse" about what's right or wrong, her eagerness to learn and lend a helping hoof endear her to her new friends in Ponyville, and when the going gets tough, her big brain and love for her friends transform her into a natural born leader![25]

Hasbro.com second description

Meet Princess Twilight Sparkle! Twilight was once charged by Princess Celestia to learn about the magic of friendship and report her findings to her royal highness. Her magic increased until the day she grew wings and became a princess! The ponies of Ponyville look up to Twilight for her intelligence and admire her courtly background. As a natural-born leader, Twilight cleverly utilizes all her friends' skills and talents to achieve their mission, and oftentimes discovers new things about herself and all her amazing friends![26]

Hasbro.com Equestria Girls description

Twilight Sparkle isn't exactly feeling like herself these days. Still, the brains of most operations, this perky princess won't let anything get into her way. Even if that means transporting to another universe to reunite old friends, expose Canterlot High's most feared villain, and unite the masses before the Fall Formal so she can take home the crown. But it's all in a day's work for Twilight Sparkle, and she will use all the skills she has: her determination, her charm, and her intelligence to get the job done. Well, that, and a little bit of magic![27]

Rainbow Rocks description

When her friends need her, no one shines like Twilight Sparkle. As lead singer for the Rainbooms, she works to get everyone rockin’ to the same rhythm, so that harmony reigns supreme at Canterlot High.[28]

HubNetwork.com description

Dutiful and intelligent, Princess Twilight Sparkle is an A+ student of all things magical. Though her attention to detail can become extreme at times, Twilight's eagerness to lend a helping hoof endears her to her friends. She's become an expert not only in magic, but in friendship too, which has transformed her into a powerful Alicorn princess -- a Unicorn with wings.

Teacher For a Day description

Meet Twilight Sparkle! She loves to read and study. The Royal Princess Celestia of Equestria has charged Twilight with learning something new: the meaning of friendship! She has a powerful gift for magical spells and uses it to lead her new friends through adventures in Ponyville.

There's no problem Twilight Sparkle can't solve, especially with the help of other ponies, a little bit of magic and guidance from Princess Celestia.

My Little Pony mobile game description

Princess Celestia's most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle loves to study and wants to learn everything about the magic of friendship.

My Little Pony magazine description

Intelligent

Artistic

Friendly

Worrywart

Caring

Raised in the Queen's court in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle is a born leader. She loves to study and wants to learn everything about the Magic of Friendship.

The Elements of Harmony guidebook

TWILIGHT SPARKLE has a love of learning unmatched in Equestria. She is a natural leader, a patient friend, an obsessive organizer, and an avid reader. Her home in Ponyville is above Golden Oak Library, where she also serves as librarian, assisted by Spike and her pet owl, Owlowiscious. Of the six Elements of Harmony, she represents the Element of Magic. As a young filly in Canterlot, she was chosen by Princess Celestia to study the highest form of magic as the princess's apprentice. Seeing Twilight value knowledge over friends, the princess sent Twilight to Ponyville to learn the magical properties of friendship. Because Twilight not only mastered magic but also created magic of her own through such friendship, she has been bestowed with wings and the title PRINCESS TWILIGHT.

Promotional material

The Meet the Ponies page of an Australian My Little Pony Wedding promotional site uses fanart of Twilight Sparkle.[29][30]

A Hasbro stand displayed at Brand Licensing Europe 2012 included a poster depicting Twilight Sparkle as an Alicorn.[31]Jayson Thiessen was not involved with the creation of the poster.[32]

The Hub announced on January 29 and 30, 2013, in an EW.com article, Twitter and Facebook posts, and a press release, Twilight Sparkle's coronation as a princess in the final episode of season three Magical Mystery Cure, on February 16, 2013.[33] The article and both posts are accompanied by pictures of her with both wings and horn, a dress, princess-esque shoes, and a new version of the element of magic crown.[34][35] The Twitter post and the picture accompanying both posts each include the hashtag "#PonyPrincess".[36][37]

A My Little Pony La Magia de la Amistad promotional image posted by the official European Spanish My Little Pony Facebook page on March 4, 2015 uses fanart of unicorn Twilight and Trixie.[38][39]

4th Dimension Entertainment plush description

A book loving and studious unicorn, Twilight Sparkle was specially chosen by Princess Celestia to be her apprentice when Twilight Sparkle was just a filly. The Princess later sent Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship.

Twilight Sparkle is always there for her friends, eager to help and solve any problem that anypony has. Organized and clever to a fault, her stubborn and obsessive nature sometimes gets her into trouble. She tends to favor logic over intuition, believing in only what she can prove rationally, giving her a healthy desire to ask questions. This natural curiosity aids Twilight Sparkle well on her adventures, constantly helping her solve problems and learn new, exciting things. Each day brings another lesson, and her magical powers and circle of friends both continue to grow. She currently lives in the Golden Oak Library with her young dragon assistant, Spike, and pet owl named Owlowiscious.

With her closest friends Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle completes the Elements of Harmony – the most powerful magic in all of Equestria.

"Everypony everywhere has a special magical connection with her friends, maybe even before she's met them. If you're feeling lonely and you're still searching for your true friends, just look up in the sky. Who knows, maybe you and your future best friends are all looking at the same rainbow."

"A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about. But now, on a day like today, I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you. Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends. Thank you, everypony!"

— Magical Mystery Cure

"Just because I have this crown and these wings, it doesn't mean I'll be a good leader!"

"Yes, but I've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic. Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony. This place might not if I allow it to fall into your hands. So go ahead, destroy the portal. You are not getting this crown!"

— My Little Pony Equestria Girls

"The crown may be upon your head Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of friendship!"

— My Little Pony Equestria Girls

"My new role in Equestria may mean I have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken."

"Wait a minute, I think I get it. You keep saying you let everypony down, but we all keep saying you didn't. You know who's disappointed in you, Spike? You, and only you can make it right with you again. What would that take, Spike?"

"As princess, I believe I have the power to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria! That is the role I am meant to have in our world! The role I choose to have! But I didn't defeat Tirek on my own. It took all of us to unlock the chest!"

"I’m the Princess of Friendship now, and lots of ponies are going to be looking to me to solve their problems. But it was foolish of me to think that I should have all the answers. What I do have are good friends who will always be there to help me find them."